Weathersbee: Kids of the civil rights era had their own sounds. Which sounds will define today's kids?

Students from the Stax Music Academy perform the musical documentary "Music of the Movement," at the Rose Theater as audience members talk about what that phrase means to them.
Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal

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Madison Knox (left), Miracles Gillespie and Sonya Walker with the Stax Music Academy stand just off stage to watch a performance of the musical documentary "Music of the Movement," at the Rose Theater. SMA's original production focuses on the artists and music that influenced Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement fifty years ago.(Photo: Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal)Buy Photo

At the recent Stax Music Academy performance of “Music of the Movement,” an homage to the music that buoyed the spirits of African-Americans during a time when racists kept trying to beat it out of them, I sat between Edward Thomas and Jevore Blecksoe.

Thomas is 62. He was 13 in 1968 when he was swept up in the protests – and the sounds.

“I was downtown, going to the movies, to the Daisy Theater,” Thomas said. “When we came out, we got caught up in the crowd [of protesting sanitation workers] that was going to the Clayborn Temple…we went with them.

“But during that time the music, James Brown, ‘Say it Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud,’ all that music, kept me going. Music then had a real meaning to it. It had a message in it, and it just was meaningful music, right on down to the gospel music.”

Now 13,Jevore is a student at Booker T. Washington. And he wasn’t even a thought in 1968.

But just as Thomas reminisced about the music that moved him back then, Jevore imagined the music he’d be talking about.

In 2068.

“Kendrick Lamar…Black Lives Matter,” he said, referring to the song, “Alright,” in which Lamar urges black people to summon their spirituality and historic resiliency to resist police brutality and systemic injustices – with lyrics like “…If God got us, we gon’ be alright.”

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Vincent Burns with the Stax Music Academy practices offstage during a performance of the musical documentary "Music of the Movement," at the Rose Theater. SMA's original production focuses on the artists and music that influenced Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement fifty years ago. Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal

Madison Knox (left), Miracles Gillespie and Sonya Walker with the Stax Music Academy stand just off stage to watch a performance of the musical documentary "Music of the Movement," at the Rose Theater. SMA's original production focuses on the artists and music that influenced Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement fifty years ago. Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal

Students and faculty from the Stax Music Academy gather backstage for a short prayer before starting a performance of the musical documentary "Music of the Movement," at the Rose Theater. SMA's original production focuses on the artists and music that influenced Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement fifty years ago. Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal

Alana Williams (right) with the Stax Music Academy takes on the role of Etta James during a performance of the musical documentary "Music of the Movement," at the Rose Theater. SMA's original production focuses on the artists and music that influenced Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement fifty years ago. Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal

Grade school kids from all over the Memphis area listen to a performance by the Stax Music Academy as they present the musical documentary "Music of the Movement," at the Rose Theater. SMA's original production focuses on the artists and music that influenced Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement fifty years ago. Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal

Instrumental Music Director Paul McKinney with the Stax Music Academy keeps everyone in sync during a performance of the musical documentary "Music of the Movement," at the Rose Theater. SMA's original production focuses on the artists and music that influenced Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement fifty years ago. Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal

Students from the Stax Music Academy prepare backstage for a performance of the musical documentary "Music of the Movement," at the Rose Theater. SMA's original production focuses on the artists and music that influenced Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement fifty years ago. Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal

Catherine Early with the Stax Music Academy takes on the role of Aretha Franklin during a performance of the musical documentary "Music of the Movement," at the Rose Theater. SMA's original production focuses on the artists and music that influenced Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement fifty years ago. Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal

Students and faculty from the Stax Music Academy perform the musical documentary "Music of the Movement," at the Rose Theater. SMA's original production focuses on the artists and music that influenced Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement fifty years ago. Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal

Jordan Wright with the Stax Museum Academy listens backstage to the chords of music on his phone during a performance of the musical documentary "Music of the Movement," at the Rose Theater. SMA's original production focuses on the artists and music that influenced Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement fifty years ago. Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal

Grade school kids from all over the Memphis gather for a performance by the Stax Music Academy as they present the musical documentary "Music of the Movement," at the Rose Theater. SMA's original production focuses on the artists and music that influenced Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement fifty years ago. Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal

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The song is known as the unofficial anthem of the Black Lives Matter movement.

“Like black people were listening to gospel [during the civil rights era], we listen to rap,” Jevore said.

Both Jevore and his friend, Ronnino Nelson, also imagined they’d be seeing performances of Drake’s latest piece, “God’s Plan,” in which he gives away nearly a million dollars to struggling families, women’s shelters, and others trying to make a life for themselves.

The rapper took money that was supposed to be used for the video production of the song and bought toys for kids, treated people to grocery shopping sprees, and changed the life of one young man who had been struggling to find work.

Jevore and Ronnino may be on to something.

Because while decades may separate them from Thomas in terms of the kind of music they enjoy, the one constant is that back then, as it is now, music is key in helping them to navigate a world that persists in devaluing them.

The difference though, said David Porter, legendary songwriter, musician and producer, is that back in the day, bringing an uplifting message for black people, such as in the music that the Stax students performed, was a priority. However, many of today’s artists begin to do that after they’ve made a lot of money.

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Students and faculty from the Stax Music Academy gather backstage for a short prayer before starting a performance of the musical documentary "Music of the Movement," at the Rose Theater. SMA's original production focuses on the artists and music that influenced Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement fifty years ago.(Photo: Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal)

“He [Drake] has gotten to a level where he can do that,” Porter said. “But for us, there was definitely a desire to be message carriers to our people. We needed to motivate our people, because there was so much to make us feel less than…

“The creatives bought into the idea that it was more important for our people to feel lifted, and that would make them feel more comfortable about what they were about to do [protest].”

Porter said that many of the songs that he wrote, such as “Soul Man,” performed by Sam and Dave – and the Stax Academy students – had underground messages.

“The first line, ‘Coming to you, from a dirt road,’ is really talking about people coming from less, but they’re feeling the power inside of them…that power is saying, ‘I’m going to succeed, because I’m a soul man.’”

So, when the Stax Academy students perform the music and dances of the civil rights era, when they sing, “Jim Dandy to the Rescue,” “Say it Loud, I’m Black and Proud,” “Soul Man,” and “A Change is Gonna Come,” they remind people like Thomas of how music wasn’t just for entertainment, but for survival; of how it helped them to resist the oppression that they had to confront during that time.

Will rap and hip-hop – which is seen through streaming services more than it is listened to on radio stations – ultimately be viewed through a similar lens?

“If it is, I hope that by that time, it has calmed down a lot,” said Thomas, who came to the show to see his daughter, Elicia Rogers, 11, perform. “A lot of rap is about making money, but I hope it can have a better message.”

Yet for youths like Jevore, it’s a message that comes from the same place; it tells people who are marginalized, in some way or other, that they can make it. That they matter.

As they did back them – and as they do now.

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Vincent Burns with the Stax Music Academy practices offstage during a performance of the musical documentary "Music of the Movement," at the Rose Theater. SMA's original production focuses on the artists and music that influenced Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement fifty years ago.(Photo: Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal)